Monthly Archives: June 2015

Membership Continues to Grow

Twenty-seven directors from 15 different schools have already joined NIMCon! Thank you for your commitment to this new professional conference. To those considering membership, take a moment to view the schools that have already joined. We hope you will add your name to the list, and be sure to spread the word to directors who may have missed our emails this spring. NIMCon is open to ALL music directors in the State of Illinois.

We are forming a committee to work on our rubrics this summer. These rubrics will serve as guidelines for directors and judges for solo and ensemble contest. Please contact Elise Matusek, Vice-President, at elise.matusek@nimcon.org if you are interested in serving on this committee.

Contest Dates

We are planning to offer Organization Contest on March 11 and 12. As soon as we have a site confirmed, we will post it on the website. We hope this helps those of you who needed a March contest date. We are also continuing our research for a venue for a “second-level” contest to be held in April or the first weekend in May. If you have any ideas, including a name for this contest, please contact us!

Next Meeting

The Annual membership meeting will take place on Thursday, September 17th at 7:00 PM at Lake Zurich MS North. More information will be available in August.

-Percussion Rudiments? Why aren’t winds/string then responsible for scales? There should be consistency here too.

Sometimes scales serve to “settle down” a nervous kid

If this is a solo/ensemble contest…where do scales fit?

What about vocalists? Scale/Arpeggios?

Any restrictions on types of vocalist repertoire? Should we restrict pop music? Is this a Director issue – perhaps we need a “Director Feedback” sheet.

A clear rubric would be the guideline

We’re in favor of fewer rules…as long as they are good rules

Clinic – 10 minute slots if it is scale, piece, clinic. Would this require more judges with the longer time slot?

We could start a database on the website for interested judges

Piano Solos – should we require the piano soloists to be part of a school ensemble in order to compete. These solos are just taking up time and become a recital for outside private teachers.

Acoustic pianos cost extra if they need to be rented and tuned

Organizational Procedures:

Do the bands need a march? Can we say contrasting styles?

Sight-reading component?

Clinic portion? Perhaps the clinician chooses an appropriate sight-reading piece based on the group’s performance. This could serve as the clinician jump-off platform.

Do we need to expand the time limit then? We suggest the clinic takes place directly after performance in the same room. Schedule 40 minutes total including clinic time and set-up/break-down.

State Contest with NIMC? We propose that “state” level kids can play in a professional venue. (Insurance question asked from organizational standpoint – it is the school’s insurance that must be submitted)